Why Is El Salvador Finca Las Rosas Pacamara Pour-Over Coffee Not Bitter_How to Drink Pacamara

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2018 New Harvest El Salvador Finca Las Rosas Pacamara Honey

Region: Chalatenango

Estate: Finca Las Rosas

Variety: Pacamara

Grade: SHB

Processing: Honey

Altitude: 1450m

Chalatenango Region and Estate Introduction

The competition in El Salvador's specialty coffee market can be described as quite intense. For decades, the Santa Ana volcanic region has been recognized as the best producing area, with major estate owners joining forces to win multiple competition championships. However, in recent years, as small farms and farmers have joined the competition, the flavors from small processing facilities have gained increasing recognition. Chalatenango region is located in northern El Salvador, near the Honduran border. The Pacamara variety grown by local farmers has emerged as a standout with exceptional flavors. The COE champions of 2013, 2014, and 2015 were all won by farms from the Chalatenango region. The legendary old farmer from Posito Estate entered the final round of the CoE national competition with the famous Pacamara variety, ultimately winning the El Salvador championship with a high score of 92.06 and earning the title of Triple Crown Winner. From then on, the previously unknown new region became famous overnight, becoming a topic of conversation for future generations.

Geographically, Chalatenango is distinctly different from other producing regions. While most coffee in El Salvador is grown in volcanic areas, this region is far from El Salvador's volcanic belt, located further north with cooler temperatures that slow fruit maturation, resulting in better sweetness. Finca Las Rosas, in an environment with stable rainfall and special mineral-rich soft soil, cultivates excellent coffee varieties like Pacamara. Using organic fertilizers allows the coffee to fully absorb nutrients, presenting multiple fruit flavors that are sweet, clean, smooth, with a long aftertaste.

Pacamara Coffee Variety Introduction

Pacamara, a new hybrid born in El Salvador in 1958, was created by crossing the Bourbon lineage Pacas with the Typica lineage Maragogype. It combines the advantages of both varieties yet surpasses them! Clean and gentle, rich and smooth, with lively acidity and full flavors, leaving a long, impressive aftertaste.

At the 2005 El Salvador COE, Pacamara stunned everyone. Among the top ten, Pacamara varieties impressively took second, fifth, sixth, and seventh places!

In 2007, Pacamara went on to win double championships at both Guatemala and El Salvador COE. From then on, Pacamara became unstoppable on the award-winning path, consistently occupying top positions in major competitions and internationally acclaimed as a rising star variety on par with Geisha.

Just in Guatemala's COE alone, Pacamara sat on the championship throne for 7 out of 10 years between 2008-2017.

Due to Pacamara's extraordinary performance in competitions, in 2017, the BOP (Best of Panama) international competition committee decided to make Pacamara a separate category for competition.

However, despite such a thriving variety, it still has its drawbacks: Pacamara has higher requirements for soil, water, climate, environment, and altitude, plus low yields and low resistance to leaf rust disease. Therefore, its cultivation popularity is not high.

To this day, although Pacamara is no longer particularly rare, it remains an uncommon variety in the market. Especially, Pacamara from Guatemala and El Salvador is considered superior, with many international pursuers, making it even more rare to reach domestic markets.

Processing Method Introduction

Honey Process (Procesado Full Miel)

After removing the skin of coffee cherries, 100% of the mucilage layer is completely retained. Unlike the fully washed method, the honey process does not use fermentation to remove the mucilage layer. Instead, the beans with the mucilage layer are directly placed on African beds to dry. During the drying process, frequent and regular turning is necessary to avoid the sticking of fruit pulp that could cause mold or over-fermentation, ensuring even sun-drying. Sunlight and wind are used for drying, after which the mucilage layer and parchment are directly removed. Compared to other processing methods, this requires more labor and time costs.

Characteristics of Honey Processing

The advantage lies in best preserving the original sweet flavors of coffee fruit, with honey-like sweetness and a fuller body.

Roasting Suggestions/Analysis

This coffee variety is the large bean Pacamara with relatively large particles and high density. New harvest beans themselves have higher moisture content. During the roasting process, heat absorption is relatively slow, while the Maillard reaction process is quite fast. The yellowing point occurs around 5 minutes. For the first roast, you can try a slightly higher bean drop temperature, for example, 200°C, with relatively higher heat settings, then gradually reduce the heat according to needs during the roasting process: after the beans enter the yellowing point, reduce the heat to prolong dehydration time, allowing the large beans to fully dehydrate; from completion of dehydration until before first crack, you can appropriately maintain medium heat or slightly increase it to accelerate Maillard reaction time and ensure pressure before first crack; before first crack signs appear, appropriately reduce heat to avoid bean surface scorching. Under this operating method, the coffee's dehydration time is relatively extended, with temperature increase rate of 6-8 degrees every thirty seconds, but it can still maintain normal entry into first crack between 8.5 to 9.5 minutes, preserving more floral and fruit aromas, maintaining clean and bright acidity. It's generally recommended to drop beans between the dense phase of first crack and the end of first crack, around medium roast level.

Cupping Flavor Description

Flavor description: Peach, passion fruit, toffee, lemon, dried longan, coffee flowers, cedar; Honey-processed Pacamara variety has a sweet and sour aftertaste, with particularly prominent sugarcane aroma when cooled, and a rich finish.

Brewing Analysis

Today we introduce FrontStreet Coffee's commonly used method for hand-pouring Pacamara coffee: V60 Three-Stage Pouring Method

Segmented Extraction

All brewing water is divided into three stages of injection

Suitable for light roast, medium-light roast, and medium roast coffee beans

Uses V60 dripper

Increasing bloom time or number of water breaks can enhance the richness of coffee taste

Three-Stage Pouring Segmented Extraction Method

Advantages: More layered than single continuous pour, can clearly distinguish the front, middle, and back end flavors of coffee. The method involves increasing water amount each time after blooming, usually pouring when the coffee liquid is about to drop to the powder layer surface, using small, medium, and large water flows for three-stage extraction.

Disadvantages: Higher requirements for water flow rate and volume.

FrontStreet Coffee's Pacamara Hand-Pour Parameters Suggestions

Using V60 dripper for brewing can enhance the layered flavor of hand-pour coffee, making it richer and cleaner; perfectly expressing the bright and elevated aromas of the Pacamara variety.

15g of powder, water temperature 89-90°C, grind BG 5R (Chinese standard 20 mesh screen pass rate 64%), water-to-powder ratio close to 1:15-16

Method: 27g water for bloom, bloom time 30s. The hot water in the pour-over kettle circles clockwise around the center of the filter cup as the center point. Start timing when brewing begins, pour water to 27g, then stop pouring and wait 30 seconds before the first pour.

For the first pour, circle like before, but the speed can be slightly slower, accelerating a bit when reaching the outer circle. Stop pouring around 1:15 seconds, wait for the liquid level to drop by 1/3, then pour again. The second pour should concentrate on the center, with water flow avoiding the area where coffee powder meets the filter paper to prevent channeling effects. End extraction around 2:05 seconds. The tail section can be omitted (the longer it drags on, the more astringency and rough texture will increase).

Segments: 30-125-230g

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473